Taconic Hills Central School, Performing Arts Center

Taconic Hills Central School, Performing Arts Center


This 950-seat proscenium theatre is more than meets the eye: the back wall of the stage house opens to an outdoor amphitheater on the other side. The amphitheatre shares the same stage and back of house support spaces as the main auditorium, and adds 300 to the seat count.

The space is also unusual in that it is not only a secondary school theatre, but also a true community arts center. One of the largest theatres in Columbia County, Taconic Central School’s Performing Arts Center provides the students and community with a wide range of arts and cultural programs, as well as the unique opportunity to generate revenue through community uses.

  • Client: Taconic Hills Central High School
  • Architect: Rhinebeck Architecture & Planning
  • Completion Year: 1999
  • Location: Craryville, New York
  • Capacity: 950 seats

Links


Gwanggyo Lake Park Outdoor Amphitheater, Suwon

Gwanggyo Lake Park Outdoor Amphitheater, Suwon


The City of Suwon built a park to house a new permanent outdoor amphitheatre for performances of classical and popular music, dance, and touring productions.

As theatre consultants to Korea-based Samoo Architects and Engineers, FDA designed and specified the demountable orchestra shell, located and specified permanent lighting positions, and created CAD-assisted sightline studies and seating plans to design ideal seating configurations that guaranteed views for all patrons.

The facility was a gift from the Samsung Corporation to the City of Suwon.

  • Client: City of Suwon, Korea
  • Architect: Samoo Architects and Engineers
  • Completion Year: 1997
  • Location: Suwon, Korea
  • Acoustician: Jaffe Holden Acoustics
  • Capacity: 10,000 seats

Links


SUNY Purchase, Center for Integrated Technology Learning

SUNY Purchase

Center for Integrated Technology Learning


This project integrated the Theater Arts & Film programs and unified the various programs scattered throughout the campus. Portions of the new CITL occupy existing space under an exterior plaza, previously used for storage and receiving. The CITL includes black box theatres, screening rooms, performance studios, production and editing studios, film classrooms, and faculty and administrative space. The facility provides a new entry pavilion and gathering space, designed to connect the public arrival experience up through the plaza to the heart of the campus. Natural light fills the new center, providing a transparency and contrast to the surrounding architecture and consequentially increasing visibility for the Film, Theater, and Media programs.

  • Client: State University Construction Fund
  • Arch. of Record: FXCollaborative
  • Completion Year: 2017
  • Location: Purchase, New York
  • Building Size: 75,000 s.f.

Links


SUNY Potsdam Performing Arts Center

SUNY Potsdam Performing Arts Center


FDA collaborated with Pfeiffer Partners on the new Performing Arts Center at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Potsdam. The building accommodates the theatre and dance departments, and integrates the teaching, performance, and administrative needs of the arts school. The new building connects to the existing Crane Music Complex, fostering student and faculty interaction among the performing arts programs on campus.

The new state-of-the-art facility includes a 350-seat proscenium theatre with fixed seating; a 100-seat studio theatre; and 4,000 square feet of dance performance space with flexible seating on telescopic risers. Front-of-house and support spaces include a public lobby, a cafe, two large studios, a physical conditioning room, a recording studio, and performer support spaces, including dressing rooms and a green room. Back-of-house areas include a scene shop, a costume shop, and associated storage. Classrooms include an Education Lab for training teachers in the arts, a Digital/Audio Studio, a Design/Drafting Lab, a CAD Lab, and a Lighting Lab. The new building also houses faculty offices and student organization space. The project broke ground in late 2011.

  • Client: SUNY Potsdam
  • Architect: Pfeiffer Partners
  • Completion Year: 2013
  • Location: Potsdam, New York
  • Building Size: 92,000 s.f.
  • Capacity: 350 seats

Links


SUNY Oswego, School of Communications Media and the Arts (SCMA)

SUNY Oswego, School of Communications Media and the Arts (SCMA) | Tyler Hall

Photo Credit: Esto | Chris Payne


Tyler Hall is the visual and performing arts building at SUNY Oswego, a public university in New York. It was built in 1965 and underwent a major renovation from 2015 to 2018, costing around $40 million. The renovation aimed to improve the facilities, accessibility, and aesthetics of the building, as well as to create new spaces for artistic expression and collaboration.

FDA, SUNY Oswego, Pfeiffer Partners, and the State University Construction Fund, were responsible for the space programming and concept design, among other improvements, for the newly formed School of Communication, Media and the Arts (SCMA). The new school will be accommodated in two fully renovated buildings, as well as a possible new addition.

Some of the features of the renovated Tyler Hall are:

  • A lobby with a curved-glass theater façade and large windows that fill the space with natural light. The lobby also connects to an enhanced art gallery that showcases a wide range of artistic voices and points of view ²³⁴⁶.
  • The modernized accessible 525-seat Waterman Theatre eliminates long continental seating rows and improves sightlines. Technical systems have been updated and expanded, including new stage dimming and lighting controls, pit lift, stage floor and traps, fire curtain, and expanded multimedia capability. 
  • A two-story music rehearsal hall that doubles as a recital hall for ensemble performances. The hall has a high ceiling, wood paneling, and large windows that create a spacious and elegant atmosphere³⁴⁶.
  • A choral rehearsal room that accommodates vocalists and choirs. The room has soundproof walls, adjustable acoustics, and a piano³⁴⁶.
  • A digital arts lab that provides students with access to cutting-edge technology and software for creating digital media, such as animation, video, and graphic design³⁴⁵.
  • A recording studio that offers state-of-the-art equipment and facilities for sound design and audio recording. The studio is connected to the music rehearsal hall and the theater, allowing for live recording of performances³⁴⁶.
  • A redesigned lab theater that serves as a flexible and intimate space for experimental and student-led productions. The theater has movable seating, lighting, and sound systems that can be adapted to different configurations and genres³⁴.
  • Updated studios for artistic disciplines, such as painting, drawing, sculpture, ceramics, photography, printmaking, and metalsmithing. The studios have new equipment, ventilation, storage, and display areas³⁴.
  • A costume shop that supports the theater department with sewing machines, dress forms, fabric racks, and fitting rooms. The shop also has a laundry room and a dye room for cleaning and customizing costumes³⁴.
  • Modernized classrooms, offices, and collaborative spaces that enhance the learning and working environment for students and faculty. The spaces have smart technology, ergonomic furniture, natural lighting, and colorful accents³⁴.
Sources:
  1. Tyler Hall. https://ww1.oswego.edu/tyler-art-gallery/.
  2. Tyler Hall renovation plans expanded – SUNY Oswego. https://www.oswego.edu/communications-and-marketing/release/tyler-hall-renovation-plans-expanded.
  3. Tyler Hall renovation featured in Architect Magazine – SUNY Oswego news. https://www.oswego.edu/news/story/tyler-hall-renovation-featured-architect-magazine.
  4. Institutional strength | SUNY Oswego’s 2015-16 Annual Report. https://www.oswego.edu/annual-report-2016/institutional-strength.html.
  5. Tyler Hall Renovation – Oswego Now. https://oswegonow.net/news/oswego-county/tyler-hall-renovation/.

  • Arch. of Record: Pfeiffer Partners
  • Completion Year: 2015
  • Location: Oswego, New York
  • Capacity: 525 seats

Links


Suntec Singapore, Convention & Exhibition Centre

Suntec Singapore

Convention & Exhibition Centre


This monumental project for Suntec City Development Ltd. required planning, design, and specification of stage rigging and lighting equipment for a 500-seat auditorium, a multipurpose ballroom, and a convention hall.

Both the ballroom and convention hall are divisible into three spaces which, in their multiple configurations, make possible a wide range of activities, from Pop concerts to exhibitions and convention meetings.

The largest portable, telescopic-seating system in the world was designed and specified for the convention hall, which is contained within a massive, new, eight-story structure located in the Marina Centre district, site of a number of new construction projects.

  • Client: Government of Singapore
  • Architect: Tsao & McKown
  • Arch. of Record: DP Archiects
  • Completion Year: 1995
  • Location: Singapore, Singapore
  • Capacity: 500 seats

Links


Stanford Graduate School of Business, Knight Management Center

Stanford Graduate School of Business

Knight Management Center


Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business moved into their new home, the Knight Management Center, a vibrant, contemporary learning complex, in early 2011. Featuring eight buildings, an underground parking facility and central plaza, the multi-function complex respects Stanford’s architectural tradition while providing greater transparency to showcase the collaborative culture of the GSB.

Academic and lecture spaces in the complex range from intimate meeting rooms to a 600-seat auditorium that serves both Stanford and the larger community, attracting visitors to lectures, films and conferences. FDA ensured optimal sightlines in the room and equipped it with sophisticated projection technology and lighting systems. Natural light can be let in or blocked as needed for the type of event being held.

The Knight Management Center achieved LEED Platinum status.

  • Client: Stanford Graduate School of Business
  • Architect: Boora Architects
  • Completion Year: 2011
  • Location: Palo Alto, California
  • Acoustician: Arup Acoustics
  • Capacity: 600 seats

Links


Stanford University, Frost Amphitheater

Frost Amphitheater

Photo Credit: Harrison Truong


Frost Amphitheater underwent a renovation that maintains the quality and character of the venue, a tree-lined bowl next to Bing Concert Hall in Stanford’s arts district. The improvements support two distinct functions: a public face with adequate amenities to enhance the audience experience, and a service side to enable ease of operations and the performer experience.

The stage was reconfigured with a permanent canopy. An associated back-of-house building, screened by the stage wall, provides much-needed program support spaces, including a green room, dressing rooms, catering space, and restrooms.

On the audience side, a new access tunnel and new pathways nestled into the trees provide better access to the seating areas, while two new wood-clad restroom buildings provide much-needed amenities. Out of sight, but still critical to the venue’s function, a new loading dock and tunnel complete the backstage improvements, dramatically improving production access to the venue.

  • Client: Stanford University
  • Architect: CAW Architects
  • Completion Year: 2019
  • Location: Stanford, California

Links


Spirit Square

Spirit Square


Built in 1909, this site was originally home to First Baptist Church, but the congregation eventually outgrew the space and moved to a different building in the early 1970s. Community leaders, determined to preserve the historic structure, rallied to preserve the church and began working to transform it into a community arts center. They finally got their wish in 1976 and, after carefully restoring its architectural detail, reopened it as Spirit Square.

The theater, which has retained many elements of its former home — red velvet seating, stained-glass windows, and an Hagia Sophia-like Byzantine dome — is named after legendary Charlotte jazz pianist Loonis McGlohon. Part of the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, the theatre now provides a smaller, intimate venue, seating only about 700 people, for touring solo acts like Idina Menzel and Bruce Hornsby. McGlohon Theater also plays host to many productions performed annually by local arts groups, such as Carolina Voices.

  • Architect: Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer
  • Arch. of Record: Ogbum and Steever
  • Completion Year: 1980
  • Location: Charlotte, North Carolina
  • Acoustician: Robert Hansen
  • Capacity: 675 seats

Links

  •  | Official Website

Spence School

Spence School


Founded in 1892 in a brownstone in Midtown, the Spence School is one of Manhattan’s best known secondary educational institutions for girls. The school’s facility on East 91st Street was in need of updates that would match the quality of the school’s academic and extracurricular programs.

After a 2001 master plan by FXCollaborative, a phased renovation began, including the construction of new classrooms, art rooms, a studio theatre, and key gathering and circulation areas. FDA consulted on the design of a new studio theatre for the school, which is flexible enough to accommodate a wide range of activities, performances, rehearsals and other special events throughout the school year.

  • Client: Spence School
  • Architect: FXCollaborative
  • Completion Year: 2008
  • Location: New York, New York
  • Acoustician: Cerami
  • Capacity: 100 seats

Links


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